Buyers of 802.11n wireless network equipment should not assume they will see a great benefit right out of the box. Most will have to enable by hand a high-performance configuration including wide channels and 5 GHz operation. And some client devices may never reach the levels of performance expected by consumers due to hardware limitations.
Apple
How Apple iCloud Will Challenge the Storage Status Quo
iCloud is a key enabler of the “post-PC” experience for iOS users. It supports wireless daily backup, storage of purchased music, apps, and books, and synchronization. It also has some interesting Mac OS X features, and it’s free. But the most-compelling feature of iCloud is what it means to future applications on iDevices, the Mac, and even Windows!
Three Key Storage Features Missing in Mac OS X “Lion”
Apple is not in enterprise storage company to be sure, and news from WWDC dashes any hopes we had for ZFS and iSCSI support. USB 3.0 seems a foregone conclusion, but Apple seems intent on ignoring it as long as possible. Although I welcome the new storage features included in Lion, it is disappointing that these were left out.
Key Storage Features in Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion”
Apple’s not an enterprise company or a storage company, but Apple does have enterprise storage features in their operating systems. And Mac OS X 10.7 “Lion” is a great case in point. From Versions to Time Machine Local Snapshots to AirDrop, Lion brings some storage love, and NFS, SMB, and Xsan are there, too. Let’s look at what’s new and key in terms of storage in the latest version of Mac OS X.
What Datacenter Equipment Is Apple Using?
During the WWDC “Stevenote” we got a rare glimpse into the mysterious Apple North Carolina data center. Two shots have been seen online so far: One showing swoopy Teradata racks and another open, exposing HP rack servers and what looks like a NetApp array. Since Apple spent billions building out this datacenter, and has kept their product choices very quiet, it’s amusing to try to suss out what they are using from their own promo video.
